164 



' KongUga Svenslia Vetenskaps Academiens Handlingar ; Ny Foljd.' 

 AndraBandet; Audra Haftet. 1858. 



This was sent from Stockholm, Novemher 18, 1860, by the 

 Academie Royale des Sciences de Stockholm. Contains two ento- 

 mological papers : 



" Stal, Bidrag till Rio Janeiro-traktens Hemiplera Fauna." 



" Holingren, Fdrsok till upstallning och besckrefning af de i Sverige 

 funua Ophionider." 



The first part of the second volume of the last-mentioned work, 

 dated 1857, contains a paper by Wallengren on Diurnal Lepidoptera 

 collected by J. A. VVahlberg in Caffraria from 1838 — 1845, and the 

 first volume contains a Monograph of the Swedish Tryphonidse, by 

 Holingren, extending to 237 pages. 



The Entomological Season of 1860. 



In the ' Entomologist's Annual ' for 1861 Mr. F. Smith, in a very 

 interesting paper, has recorded the effect of the extremely cold and 

 wet season of 18G0 upon Hymenoptera, in producing a scarcity of 

 Aculeata ; and he adduces proof that leaves no doubt in one instance, 

 and by inference in others, that the vjant of heat was the cause of 

 the non-appearance of the species. He says, " In the month of June 

 last I obtained a large number of pupae of a species of Colletes ; 

 these, in the usual progress of development, would appear in the 

 perfect condition about the middle of July ; a few came forth in 

 August, but the majority still remain in the larva state." In such a 

 case Mr. Smith does not anticipate any perceptible diminution in 

 numbers next year, but in other cases he expects there will be a great 

 scarcity next season, for he says, " On the 16th September I found 

 a nest of Bombus Muscorum, in which the larvae had nearly all 

 changed to pupae, and had perished in that condition, in consequence 

 of the long-continued wet and cold ; this, I fear, has been the case 

 with a large majority of the moss -building bees." 



But Mr. Smith goes on to say, " I have no doubt of a similar scar- 

 city having been observed in other orders of insects, and that in 

 addition to the questions — What has become of the wasps ? What 

 has become of the house-flies ? it has also been asked, What has 

 become of the butterflies ? " I am glad that for once we have had a 

 scarcity of wasps and flies, although we must all regret that desirable 

 consummation could not be brought about Avithout the loss of the 

 universally favourite butterflies. Yet it would be wrong to suppose 



